Five takeaways from the Longhorns’ 51-3 win over UL-Monroe

The Longhorns are now 4-0 after beating the UL-Monroe Warhawks by a final score of 51-3.

The spotlight was on Arch Manning, who made his first collegiate start tonight. His performance wasn’t perfect, but Arch still showed off his arm strength and potential to be a dual-threat QB.

The Horns showed a complete effort on both ends of the floor. Texas has a lot of good things to watch as it begins its SEC schedule next week.

Much like Quinn Ewers in his first college start, Manning made a misread and threw an interception on his first drive against UL-Monroe.

You could tell Manning was a little nervous, but once he settled in, he showed great potential again. On his second drive, he hit Isaiah Bond with a pass just over the shoulders of defenders for 56 yards. He was a little inaccurate at times with the deep ball, but he managed to connect with Matthew Golden for a 46-yard reception and nearly completed another 40-plus yard pass to Silas Bolden before his pass was ruled incomplete.

Manning finished with 258 yards and two touchdowns while completing just 15 of 29 passes.

Manning forced a couple of fumbled balls, which led to his two interceptions, but that shouldn’t distract people from the hype surrounding him. Again, I want to remind you that Quinn Ewers also threw an interception in his very first college game against the same team. Manning is probably the starter at almost every other school in the FBS, he’ll do just fine.

The Longhorns didn’t need the running back for the win at UTSA, and theoretically, the Longhorns probably would have won Saturday without him. But I don’t want to take away from Blue. He’s indispensable when the competition gets better.

Blue came back and rushed for 124 yards on 25 carries, with three touchdowns and a three-yard reception for his fourth touchdown of the night.

His speed coupled with his agility helped the Longhorns gain a lot of yards in the open field, and his tenacity in the red zone helped the Longhorns find the end zone on multiple occasions.

The Blues could have done even more damage if Manning hadn’t struggled with some screen passes and dump-offs intended for the Blues, but regardless, the Blues had the best performance of any Longhorn in this game.

Texas will need his productivity in games against Georgia. His ability to find extra yards when he’s struggling will be huge for games like this, when big plays aren’t as abundant.

No Texas receiver had more than three receptions Saturday. Everyone played a role in the receiving group.

Isaiah Bond and Matthew Golden are the main targets of this offense and have both played their roles well so far this season. But if Golden or Bond aren’t particularly healthy, players like Ryan Wingo, Johntay Cook, Gunnar Helm and DeAndre Moore have been able to step up and make big plays for the team. Silas Bolden also seems to have found a rhythm in this game as a receiver, which adds to the options.

With Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell and Jordan Whittington all off to the NFL, the Longhorns appear to have not missed a beat with the newcomers.

The defense allowed just 111 yards on the night, the lowest total it has allowed this season, with Colorado State second with 194 yards.

Allowing just 22 points in the first four games is about as good as it gets, even though the Longhorns have only played one Power Four team so far.

The defense forced two interceptions on the night and also got a safety. UL-Monroe had no answer for the Texas defense on third downs, with the Warhawks converting just two of their 12 third downs.

It’s good to know that the defense can help Texas win games if the offense is struggling, with tougher opponents on the schedule coming up we’ll see how the defense responds when games are closer.

One of head coach Steve Sarkisian’s favorite quotes. This team has really been working flat out, without any breaks.

On paper, Texas is favored to win every game so far, but getting out on the field and executing is completely different than expected.

Heading into Saturday’s game, Texas could have been a little more lenient with UL-Monroe. After all, they did climb to No. 1 in the AP Poll. But Texas didn’t let the hype surrounding the team get to their heads. They’re still on a mission to prove they’re the best team in the country.

The fact that they have won every game so far this season by at least three possessions just shows that this team has no intention of easily defeating an opponent. It is obvious that Sarkisian does not let this team play less than 100% in any game, and for that reason, Texas is No. 1.

Texas’ first SEC opponent will be Mississippi State next Saturday. The game will be played at DKR Stadium and will start at 2:30 p.m. CT or 3:15 p.m. CT.